[youtube=https://youtu.be/t6uNiKAy7cs]If you pay ComEd or Ameren for electricity supply, there’s good news: The price you pay for power will drop on June 1!
ComEd’s electricity price will fall from approximately 8.3 cents per kWh to about 5.5 cents per kWh this June through September. Ameren customers will see their price dip from roughly 5.4 cents per kWh to just under 4.7 cents per kWh.
That’s great and all, but what does it mean for you? It depends who supplies your electricity, and how much you use. If you’re a ComEd supply customer using 1,000 kWh a month, you stand to save around $28 a month this summer. An Ameren supply customer using the same amount of electricity can expect to save around $7 per month. If you’re enrolled with an alternative power supplier, either individually or through “municipal aggregation,” you won’t see any change in your bill. Just make sure to compare the rate your supplier is charging you with ComEd or Ameren’s new supply price.
If you decide that you’ll be better off with ComEd or Ameren, find out if you’ll have to pay an exit fee for cancelling your contract early. Some companies charge well over $100! (See what alternative electricity suppliers are charging in ComEd and Ameren territory.)
Looking beyond this summer, electricity prices won’t change much. From October 2013 through May 2014, ComEd’s power price is expected to drop a fraction of a cent, while Ameren’s price will rise slightly, but remain below 5 cents per kWh. The utilities’ June 2014 prices won’t be available until this time next year.
Questions? Leave a comment, or call CUB at 1-800-669-5556.
(Note: Not included in the utilities’ “price to compare” is the “Purchased Electricity Adjustment” (PEA), which varies monthly and can add up to 0.5 cents to the supply price. Alternative electricity supplier customers do not pay the PEA.)
